Method and apparatus for making welts



May 29, 1934.

H. G. HALLORAN METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING WELTS I Filed Jan. 12,1935' 2 Sheets-Sheet l gwumtw Er Hallaran Hear May 29, 1934. H. ca.HALLORAN 1,960,997

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING WELTS Filed Jam 12, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet2 5: Hal/are]! Hear ii WW3 Patented May 29, 1934 1,960,997

umreo- STATES- PATENT OFFICE 1,980,997 METHOD AND arrmrcs ron MAKINGwears Henry G. Halloran, Milton, Mass. Application January 12, 19:3,Serlal No. 651,393-

6 Claims. (01. 1813) This invention relates to welting adapted to be Thetextile fabric r W h the rc n employed in the t system of shoemanufacture strips are to be formed is produced in a tubular and forother uses. A principal object of the v\lfelwe 10 f a dimensionCorresponding to a coninventien is to provide comprising siderablenumber of the widthwise dimension strength giving element built up of aseries of used in the welt. This tubular weave may be superposed layersof textile material, preferably rawn from a suitable roll thro h acement united and incorporated t a body of hi d coating stationcomprising coacting rolls ll, 12, plastic such as rubber composition. Inaccordlm h a mass of the cement coating material 1 anee t my invention tlayers of reinforcing ndicated in feeding relation so that the cementtextile material are produced with the threads pp and Pressed into thetextile as it P e th reof extending diagonally or on bias t ththerethrough. Thence, the material is directed length thereof this beingfor t purpose of proaround a guide roll and on to a cylindrical formmoting the edgewise flexibility of the material so 15 by which t iS paded to its full dimension. that it will bend more readily around thecontour The i l ay be fed Continuously ve his of the shoe and also so asto prevent raveling out f rm by suitably driven rolls 16 which engagethe and loose threads along the edge of the material. material i a y- Aknife 17 is mounted on The invention also has to do with a novel methoda rotating ring 18 for revolution around the maf. producing t improvedwelting Th foreterial on the form 15 and engages the material going andother objects and advantages of the So as to Slit i al n he piral 19 asit is moved 2o invention will more fully appear from the folendwise onthe form. The ring 18 for this purlowing detailed description, and thedistinctive pose may be equ pp d w th a t h which m y features ofnovelty will be pointed out in the apbe engaged y a driving pinion 18a,t e o e o pended leh typifying any suitable means for producing aReferring t th drawings; continuous strip of textile with bias threads.The 25 Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic elevation, partially in ip 20 soproduced is of a width corresponding section showing a preferred methodof producing to the width of a considerable number, illustrathe bias cuttextile strips which constitute the tively shown as 8 of the double weltstrip portions reinforcing l t of th lt. to be later referred to. Arequisite number of Fig. 2 is a partial perspective showing further th sst ips 20 ar supe p d a d p ss d fi mly 30 the production of the biasstrip. together so that they are securely united by the Fig. 3 is afragmentary elevation showing a cement content thereof. They are thensevered further step in the production of the bias strip. along thelines 21 to P e e reinforcing Fig. 4 is a central lengthwise verticalsection of ments 22 of the welt. a machine adapted for producing themolded welt It is within the contemplation of the invention 35 of theinvention. to employ these built up welt elements 22 as the Fig. 5 is adetailed perspective showing the complete welt if desired, and for thispurpose molding die of the machine on a larger scale. they may besuitably grooved and beveled to pro- Fig. 6 is a transverse section online 6--6 of duce the requisite welt cross section, it being Fig. 5.noted that such grooving and beveling may be 40 Fig. '7 is a transversesection on line 77 of performed without raveling out or loosening ofFig. 4 but on a larger scale. the threads, on account of the describedbias cut.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary elevation showing a In a more comprehensiveembodiment of the inportion of the double strip as produced by thevention however the textile strips 22 are embedmachine of Fig. 4. dedin, and serve as the reinforcing element of a 45 Fig. 9 is a fragmentaryperspective showing a welt comprising a body of molded plastic, prefer-1 0 portion of one form of welt. ably rubber composition; when so used,the strips Fig. 10 is a similar fragmentary perspective 22 may bepre-formed with alongitudinal indentshowing another form of weltembodying the ation or groove 22a. To produce suchacomposite invention,welt in continuous lengths various means may 50 Fig. 11 is a fragmentaryelevation illustrating be employed but preferably and as herein shownthe capability of the textile reinforce to flex I employ for thispurpose an extruding machine around the abrupt curve at the toe of theshoe, indicated generally at 23 and employing a spiral and screw feedingmember 24 operating in a chamber Fig. 12 is an enlarged sectional detailtaken 25. A suitable extruding die 26 is secured at the 55 on line 12-12of Fig.4. discharge end of this machine by means of a flanged sleeve 2'7or the like. This die has a passage 28 therethrough communicating withthe discharge passage 25a from the chamber 25. The passage 28 is of adimension to mold and form a double width of welt as the moldedplasticmaterial is forced therethrough. A passage 28 of a dimension toguide a strip 22 of the reinforcing textile of a width sufficient fortwo welts leads diagonally into the passage 28 at a point a smalldistance outward from the receiving end thereof. The bottom of thepassage 28 back of this passage 28' may be formed with a slightlyelevated platform 28a to afford clearance in the molded cross section ofthe material to receive the textile strip 22 as it is drawn into thepassage 28 and embedded in the molded plastic.

Thus the double welt strip indicated at 29 has the textile reinforcingstrip 29a closely embedded in, and flush with the bottom of the welt,'the textile strip being of a width so that it terminates some littleshort of the outer sides of the welts, thus leaving a smooth finishededge of molded plastic at the outer side of each welt. The passage 28 isformed with spaced apart grooves 28b extending longitudinally thereofand defining beads 29b extending from the tops of the two welts adjacentthe inner sides thereof. The passage 28 is also provided with a V-shapedprojection 28c extending into the top thereof and defining a valley atthe locality of the severance line of the two welts, this providingbeveled edges 290 at the inner sides of the respective welts as isusual. The passage 28 is still further provided with spaced apart beads28d extending upward from the bottom thereof and defining thread grooves29d in the bottoms of the welts such as commonly provided.

It may now be understood that in use the textile strip 22 of a doublewelt width is first threaded through the diagonal passage 28' into thepassage 28. The moldable plastic is Supplied to the chamber 25 suitablyconditioned by heat so that it is capable of being pressed through thedie 26 by the action of the screw 24. As the plastic is forced throughthe passage 28 past the point where the textile strip 22 extends thereinto it will draw said strip along with. it continuously and at the sametime cause the embedding of the strip securely in the plastic as will bereadily understood. In case it is desired to produce spaced apartindentations in the outer upper surface of the welt, commonly known asfudge stitching, this may be accomplished by mounting suitable indentingrolls 30 in position to engage this portion of the welts while they areheld against displacement. For this purpose I show said rolls 30ill'ustratively as mounted in the outer portion of the die 26, thoughthey may be separately mounted. The molded welt stock thus produced isof course soft and more or less unstable as it comes from the machineand it may be subjected to a usual vulcanizing process, the rubbercomposition or like molded plastic having incorporated therein the usualingredients adapting it for such treatment. The double welt stripproduced as described is severed along the line 31 producing finishedwelt strips 32 of the character indicated in Fig. 9. The invention alsocontemplates the production of other forms of welt strips such as a fiatstrip 320 as seen in Fig. 10, such strip having a textile reinforce 220of the character already described embedded therein and being suitablygrooved and beveled according to usual practice.

I attach special importance to the bias cut of the textile reinforce inthat it greatly facilitates the bending of the welt in sharp curvesaround pointed toes and the like as indicated at 33, the bias cutthreads permitting a relative yield and spread allowing such edgewisebending to a degree that would be quite impossible with a textile havingthreads running straight lengthwise. The bias cut is therefore valuableand important both in permitting edgewise flexing of the welt and inpreventing unraveling and fraying of the textile threads. By thedescribed process I am enabled to produce welt strips in endlesslengths, the described system of producing the bias cut textilepermitting indefinite lengths thereof, and the extruding machine ofcourse being capable of producing the molded strip continuously so longas molded plastic is supplied thereto.

As heretofore stated, the welt of the invention may be embodied indifferent forms, of which those shown in Figs. 9 and 10 are merelyillustrative. I consider the form shown in Fig. 9 to be particularlydesirable, since it not only presents a smooth, finish exterior ofmolded plastic, with the textile reinforce entirely concealed when inthe shoe, but the bead 29b presents a pleasing and finished effect as itlies closely in the juncture of the welt and upper. I am aware that theinvention may be embodied in other specific .forms without departingfrom the spirit or essential attributes thereof, and I therefore desirethe present embodiment to be considered in all respects as 11-lustrative and not restrictive, reference being had to the appendedclaims rather than to the foregoing description to indicate the scope ofthe invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim is new and desire to secureby Letters Patent is:

1. The herein described process which consists in premoulding a textilereinforcing strip with a thread groove, feeding said strip through a dieadapted to produce the required welt cross section, continuously forcingmoldable plastic through said die to cause the reinforcing strip to beembedded therein; and supportingsuch strip at'the locality of the threadgroove therein in a manner to preserve such groove and to produce a weltof the required cross section.

2. The herein described method which consists of pre-molding a textilereinforcing strip with a thread groove, uniting moldable plastic withsaid strip under pressure to produce a welt of the required crosssection, and supporting the strip at the locality of the thread groovein a manner to preserve such groove against the action of such pressure.

3. The herein described method which comprises forcing moldableplasticthrough a die to produce the cross section required for a welt but witha rebated portion adapted to receive a reinforcing strip with apre-formed thread groove, and feeding a textile reinforcing strippre-molded with a thread groove into such die and into the rebatedportion of the plastic to unite with such plastic under pressure.

4. Welt making apparatus comprising an extruding die, and means forsupplying moldable prises preforming with a thread groove a. continu- Hous bias cut textile reimforcing strip of less width than that of thewelt to be produced, continuously forcing moldable plastic through a dieadapted to produce a welt having a thread groove, and feeding such stripthrough the die in a manner to cause the same to be embedded in the baseof the welt produced without altering its thread groove.

HENRY G. HALLORAN.

